Jar sealing device or the like



y 1943. J. RfFLElSCH 2,318,210

JAR SEALING DEVICE OR THE LIKE Filed March 13, 1942 Patented May 4, 194-3 UNITED STATES PAT QFFIQE Aridor Company, Chic Illinois ago, 111., a corporation of Application March 13, 1942, Serial No. 434,473 Claims. (01. 226-82) This'invention relates to a jar sealing device or the like more particularly of the class described in the Safranski and Millenaar Patent No. 2,295,692 embodying an exhaust bell and mechanism including a turntable for raising and lowering the bell.

The present invention aims, among other objects, to permit the use of an overhead track for depressing the plunger carried by the bell for sealing the food container or the like within the bell, while, at the same time, and even during such movement, permitting manual adjustment from the exterior of the bell of the overall length of the plunger, thus efiecting a saving of time and labor in the operation of the device and its adaptability to varying sizes of containers and eliminating shut-downs of the machine therefor.

This, together with other objects and advantages, will'b'e apparent from the following description, taken together with the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a fragmentary elevational view, partially in section, of an exhaust bell and mechanism including a turntable for raising and lowering the bell, together with associated parts;

' Figure 2 is an enlarged axial view of the bell of Fig l, being a partial section taken on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

- Figure 3 is a section, slightly reduced in size, taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

.Referring in detail to the illustrative construction shown in the drawing, the exhaust bell H), in the form of a metal hood, is here shown carried by a turntable H mounted to revolve on spaced circumferentially, about the turntable.

The turntable is secured as by screw-bolt Ha to a ring gear lib to revolve on the deck I3 of the base by means of any suitable source. of power .(not shown) which may be connected to the drive shaft 14, the latter having .a pinion l5 thereon meshing with peripheral teeth i6 on thering gear Mb. The ring gear llb is held in place on the base l2 by a central stationary turret I! on the base which is secured to the deck l3 asby screw-bolts Ila. The turntable has a turret l8 tionary turret I1 and terminates in a revolving header 23 at the top thereof. The revolving header 23 carries a number of flexible pipes 24, one of which is connected with each of the bells In, only one bell and pipe being here shown- The revolving header 23 mates face to face with the stationary valving block 25 suitably secured to the upper part of the stationary turret I1 and through which the shaft 22 revolvably passes. The revolving header 23 is keyed to revolve with the shaft 22 and is resiliently pressed against the valving block by a substantially heavy coil spring 26 held in place on the shaft 22 by a washer 21 and nut 28. e

. It will be understood that the revolving header 23 and valving block 25 have ports 29' and 3!] therein respectively which are vertically aligned in a given orbital position of the turntable to place the flexible pipe 24 in-communication with a fixed exhaust pipe25a carried by the stationary turret ll and its base l2. 'Ihe fixed exhaust pipe 25a may be connected to any suitable exhaust pump (not shown) for withdrawing air from the bell Hi. It will be understood also, that later in its orbit the revolving header port 29 may be placed in communication with a relief port (not here shown) in the valving block.

Each of the bells i0 is raised during the orbital movement of the turntable, first to permit a food container or the like 3| (Fig. 2) to be placed under the bell, in a portion of the orbit of the turntable not felt necessary to be here shown, and is then lowered over the container 3|. Means for this movement are provided by a' cam groove 32 on the periphery of the stationary turret l! which receives a roller 33 on an exten- 'sion 34 of the bell It To permit this vertical movement ofthe bell as it revolvesabout" the base with the turntable, the turret part 18 (if-the turntable has a vertically extending slot 35 there:- in through which the extension 34 passes, and the extension 34 may be elongated in the slot 35 and in thedirection thereof so as to prevent rotation of the bell with respect to the turntable during its movement under the influence of the cam, groove 32 and cam roller 33. v

In accordance with the present invention, the bell' l0 carries a plunger 36 for pressing the cap 31 onto the food container 3| and which is manually adjustable from the exterior of the bell to vary the length of the plunger to suit different heights of containers while at the same time being engageable by an overhead track 38 to depress the plunger. The track 38 is carried by the base l2 as by screw-bolts 39 passing throughfa horizontal bracket part '40 of the track into the understood that the overhead track 38 is located, in the orbit of the turntable, in the vicinity of the lowermost run of the cam groove 32 so that when the bell approaches this point in its orbital movement, a roller 4| carried by the plunger passes under and into engagement with a cam surface 42 on the under face of the track 38 which by its downward inclination gradually depresses the roller 4| as the bell revolves and moves farther under the track 38. At this time the bell has already been moved into substantially air-tight engagement with the turntable II by the cam groove and roller 32-33, as shown in the drawing, a rubber gasket 43 about the lower edge of the bell closing its lower, open end.

The roller 4| is here shown carried by the plunger 36 through the intermediation of a vertically slidable bearing member 44 in which the ends of the roller pintle 45 are journalled, the ends of the pintle 45 projecting therebeyond to play in vertical elongated slots 46 in the reduced upper end 41 of the bell II]. A coil spring 48, interposed between downwardly facing shoulders 49 on the bearing member 44 and upwardly facing shoulders 50 in the interior of the bell reduced end 41, urge the bearing members 44 and with them the roller 4| toward the upper end of the slot 46, thus elevating the plunger 36 except when the cam surface 42 of the overhead track depresses the roller against the action of the spring.

Still following the present invention, the plunger 36 has a part within the bell, adapted to engage the container, and a part 52 which, by means of the bearing members 45 and roller 4|, extends above the bell It] in the sense that when the bell is beneath the track 38 the track does not engage the bell directly but through the intermedia-tion of the roller 4|. In this instance, the part 52 is in the form of a socket interiorly fully threaded as at 53 and the part 5| has a shank provided with external threads 54 by which the parts 5| and 52 are threadedly interengaged, the shank screwing into the socket, both to hold the parts together and also to determine the overall vertical length of the plunger 36, of which the parts 5| and 52 are portions, by the extent to which they are so threadedly interengaged.

As the plunger 36 moves downwardly under the influence of the track 38, the plunger part 52 slides in the packing gland 55 which is held in place by the exteriorly threaded collar 56 screwed into the throat of the bell II] as at 51 to maintain the packing gland in position under compression and thus make the bell substantially air-tight while permitting the vertical movement of the plunger. Final downward movement of the plunger, just subsequent to its positions shown in Fig. 2, is accomplished by a further downward inclination 42a of the overhead track 38, which thus seals the jar cap 31 onto the container 3| while the bell is evacuated.

At its lower end, the plunger part 5| is flanged as at 58 to support the sealing disk proper 56 which directly contacts the container cap 31. The flange 58 and the sealing disk 59 are held loosely together by distance screws 60, say three in all, spaced about the circumference of the flange, each of which has a shouldered shank 6| reduced at its lower end where it is threaded as at 62 to screw tightly into the disk 59 without clamping the latter against the flange 58, the

screw shank 6| passing slidingly through the latter. Spaced circumferentially between the disupper face of the stationary turret |1. It will be tance screws 60 are compression springs 63, also conveniently three in all, which urge the flange 58 and sealing disk 59 apart to the extent permitted by the distance screws 60, so as to compensate for irregularities in the levels of the tops of the caps 31.

It will be seen that the plunger part 52 is not permitted to rotate with respect to the bell l0 by reason of the arrangement shown, and in order to permit rotation of the plunger part 5| with respect to the plunger part 52, to adjust the overall length of the plunger, I have shown one of the parts 58-59 and in this instance the disk 53, in the form of a gear wheel by being provided with gear teeth 64 on its periphery which mesh with the teeth 65 of an elongate pinion 66, the teeth 65 being themselves vertically elongated as well as the pinion as a whole, as shown. To house the pinion in this relationship with the gear teeth 64, the bell I0 may be laterally enlarged as at 61 for the pinion 66, the enlargement 61 at'its lower end forming a bearing for the trunnion 68 of the pinion. At its upper end, the pinion has a shank 69 which passes through a packing gland 10 disposed in the mouth of the enlargement 61 against a metal washer 1| at its lower end in abutment with an internal annular shoulder 12 in the bell enlargement, the metal washer 1| also holding the pinion against axial displacement. The packing gland 10 is held in position under compression against the Washer 1| by a sleeve nut 13 which is exteriorly threaded to have threadedengagement as at 14 in the mouth of the enlargement. A knurled thumb-piece 15 may be disposed at the top of the pinion shank 69 secured in splined connection thereto as by a cap-screw 16 whereby rotation of the thumb-piece 15 will rotate the pinion 66, and, through the teeth 65 on the pinion and teeth 64 on the sealing disk 59, will rotate the plunger part 5|.

By turning the thumb-piece 15 in a clock-wise direction the plunger part 5| may be rotated counterclockwise, which will screw the part 5| farther into the plunger part 52 and thus shorten the overall length of the plunger and vice versa, by turning the thumb-piece 15 in the opposite direction. The teeth 64 of the sealing disk are at all times free to slide vertically on the teeth 65 of the elongate pinion under the influence of the overhead track 38 and roller 4|, so that the adjustment mechanism does not interfere with the operation of the device.

Thus, the normal height of the plunger within thebell, that is its height from the turntable when underpressed and when the container 3| is first placed thereunder, may be varied to suit different heights of containers and this adjustment may be readily made from the exterior of the bell and even while the bell is under vacuum and the plunger is being depressed by the overhead track.

When it is desired to replace the plunger part 5| entirely and assuming that there is no container 3| in the bell, then the thumb-piece 15 may be rotated counterclockwise until the part 5| drops away from the part 52, having been entirely unscrewed therefrom. At such time the teeth 64 will slide down the teeth 65 until the plunger part 52 is entirely withdrawn from the bell. Thereafter, the same or another similar part 5| may be inserted in the bell, the teeth 64 meshed with the teeth 65 and then the part slid upwardly until it threadedly engages the part 52, when the thumb-piece 15 may then be rotated clockwise to bring the part to the desired elevation within the bell. It will be seen that at no time in the normal operation of the device is the plunger shank part 5| completely screwed into the socket plunger part 52, there being desirably at all times uninterengaged lengths of both the socket and the shank to permit adjustment by the pinion 65 either to increase or decrease the overall length of the combined plunger parts 5l-52. Furthermore, at no time in the normal operation of the device are the teeth 64 out of mesh with the teeth 65 on the elongate pinion.

It is to be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to details of construction here shown for illustrative purposes. Furthermore, it is not intended that it be understood that all features of the present disclosure must be used conjointly, since it will be apparent to workers in the art that various combinations or sub-combinations may at times be advantageously employed. For example, the device may well be useful in the absence of a vacuum in the bell.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a jar sealing device or the like embodying a bell and mechanism including a turntable for raising and lowering the bell, the combination with a base for the turntable, of an overhead track carried by the base, a plunger carried by the bell, said plunger having a part within the bell adapted to engage a container to be sealed therewithin and a part extending above the bell adapted to engage the track to depress the plunger, said parts having threaded interengagement, means holding the part above the bell against rotation but permitting vertical movement thereof, and means carried by the bell and including a vertically elongated pinion, gear teeth on the plunger part within the bell engaging said pinion, and a manually operable member on the exterior of the bell for rotating the pinion and thereby the plunger part within the bell while permitting vertical movement of the latter whereby rotation of the latter moves the parts toward or from each other to vary the normal height of the plunger within the bell.

2. In a jar sealing device or the like embodying a bell and mechanism including a turntable for raising and lowering the bell, the combination with a base for the turntable, of an overhead track carried by the base, a plunger carried by the bell, said plunger having a part withinthe bell adapted to engage a container to be sealed therewithin and a part extending above the bell adapted to engage the track to depress the plunger, said parts having threaded interenga-gement, means holding the part above the bell against rotation but permitting vertical movement thereof, and means carried by the bell and including a manually operable member on the exterior of the bell for rotating the part within the bell while permitting vertical movement thereof whereby rotation of the latter moves the parts toward or from each other to vary the normal height of the plunger within the bell.

3. In a jar sealing device or the like embodying a bell and mechanism including a turntable for raising and lowering the bell, the combination with a base for the turntable, of an overhead track carried by the base, a plunger having a part within the bell adapted to engage a container to be sealed therewithin and a part extending above the bell adapted to engage the track to depress the plunger, said parts having threaded interengagement, means holding one of said parts against rotation but permitting vertical movement thereof, and means for rotating the other of said parts but permitting vertical movement thereof whereby rotation of the latter moves the parts toward or from each other to vary the normal height of the plunger within the bell.

4. In a jar sealing device or the like embodying a bell, the combination with a plunger carried by the bell, said plunger having a part within the bell and a part extending above the bell, said parts having threaded interengagement, of means holding the part above the bell against rotation but permitting vertical movement thereof, and means carried by the bell and including a vertically elongated pinion, gear teeth on the part within the bell engaging said pinion, and a manually operable member on the exterior of the bell for rotating the pinion and thereby the part within the bell while permitting vertical movement of the latter whereby rotation of the latter moves the parts toward or from each other to vary the normal height of the plunger within the bell.

5. In a jar sealing device or the like embodying a bell and mechanism including a turntable for raising and lowering the bell, the combination with a base for the turntable, of an overhead track carried by the base, a plunger carried by the bell, said plunger having a part within the bell adapted to engage a container to be sealed therewithin and a part extending above the bell adapted to engage the track to depress the plunger, and means carried by the bell including a manually operable member on the exterior of the bell for adjusting the overall length of the plunger to varythe norm-a1 height of the plunger within the bell while permitting vertical movement thereof during said adjustment.

JOSEPH R. FLEISCH. 

